thedrifter
06-02-05, 07:12 AM
Battle scars
Local Marine recovering from wounds
By ERIK JOHNS
Advocate Reporter
HEATH -- Few people would wish to return to a combat zone that nearly cost them a foot, but Marine Staff Sgt. Larry Bowman, or at least a part of him, would like to return to his unit in Iraq.
"I feel really bad being here now," the 35-year-old Heath resident said. "I feel guilty that I'm safe back at home, and they're still over there. I'm kind of torn between being home with my family, children and wife and being back with my family over there."
On May 8, a piece of shrapnel tore into Bowman's leg during an intense firefight in an insurgent-controlled city near the Syrian border.
"We immediately started taking fire. We could hear the rounds pinging off the side of the vehicle," he said.
While checking on another wounded Marine and moving back for cover, an explosion went off near Bowman.
"We started to go back to a covered area, and I noticed I couldn't walk," he said. He looked down, saw lots of blood and "could see all the way into the bone."
But Bowman -- who is also a trooper at the Granville post of the Ohio Highway Patrol -- maintained his cool in the face of a potentially life-threatening injury. Back at the casualty collection area, he let the medics tend to other wounded Marines, cutting off the leg of his pants and applying first aid to himself.
He was even calm enough to take note of the time another Marine in far worse shape had a tourniquet applied: 1:20 p.m., which he estimates is shortly after the time he got hit.
"I don't know if it was something I was prepared for," he said. "I am a Christian, and God was definitely with me that day. He definitely calmed me down."
Unbeknownst to him at the time, his foot, and potentially his life, were in far worse danger than he thought.
An artery in his lower leg had been severed, but the swelling from the injury pinched off the bleeding.
Bowman, an active duty Marine for 12 years and reservist for the last five, was told he'd be OK and back fighting in short order, but when he arrived at a hospital, he shifted a little and the pressure from the swelling gave way.
"Blood was just shooting out of it like a sieve," he said.
After being rushed into emergency surgery, doctors told him if he had gone much longer, they would have amputated the foot.
He is now left with two 10-inch scars down both sides of his left lower leg and dozens of staples holding the wound closed. He lost part of his calf muscle and has permanent nerve damage.
While all this was going on halfway around the world, Bowman's wife of nearly five years, Christine, was back home in Heath, oblivious to the threat that her husband might have returned with only one foot.
"When they first called me, they said he had been peppered with shrapnel," she said. "They called me that night and said they were going to clean out his wound and he'd be OK."
The whirlwind of events surrounding the injury and possible amputation came and went without her being notified of the seriousness of the injury. "He called me a day or so later and said, 'They were able to save my foot,' and I just said, 'What?'" Christine remarked with a little laughter.
Sharing in the fear were Bowman's 3-year-old son, Matthew, 13-year-old stepdaughter, Hannah and 10-year-old stepson, Tristan.
Tristan and a couple of friends lined the streets of their Heath neighborhood with American flags for Bowman's homecoming from the Bethesda, Md., Naval Hospital on May 23.
Bowman is expected to recover with 95- to 98-percent function in his left foot. Now moving around with the help of a cane, he expects to return to his job at the patrol once he heals.
For the time being, he remains on active duty while recovering. He said he has expressed desire to return to the Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he spent several days healing and would like to help other wounded Marines and boost morale during their recovery process.
This wasn't Bowman's first trip to Iraq. He fought in the first Gulf War in 1991, although at that time he was much younger, unmarried and didn't have children.
Many of the Marines from Bowman's unit -- the Lima, Ohio-based company that has seen a lot of action and fatalities since being called to duty in January -- are as young as he was in 1991, and Bowman wishes he could still be there to offer guidance and support.
"All my guys are really young. I've seen this stuff before. For a lot of them, this is their first time away from home, their first deployment," he said.
Also fueling his longing to still be with his men is his belief in the U.S. mission in Iraq.
"The U.S. has been truly blessed. We, as Americans, have an obligation to help other people who are struggling for freedom and democracy," he said.
Erik Johns can be reached at (740) 328-8543 or ejohns@nncogannett.com
Originally published June 2, 2005
Ellie
Local Marine recovering from wounds
By ERIK JOHNS
Advocate Reporter
HEATH -- Few people would wish to return to a combat zone that nearly cost them a foot, but Marine Staff Sgt. Larry Bowman, or at least a part of him, would like to return to his unit in Iraq.
"I feel really bad being here now," the 35-year-old Heath resident said. "I feel guilty that I'm safe back at home, and they're still over there. I'm kind of torn between being home with my family, children and wife and being back with my family over there."
On May 8, a piece of shrapnel tore into Bowman's leg during an intense firefight in an insurgent-controlled city near the Syrian border.
"We immediately started taking fire. We could hear the rounds pinging off the side of the vehicle," he said.
While checking on another wounded Marine and moving back for cover, an explosion went off near Bowman.
"We started to go back to a covered area, and I noticed I couldn't walk," he said. He looked down, saw lots of blood and "could see all the way into the bone."
But Bowman -- who is also a trooper at the Granville post of the Ohio Highway Patrol -- maintained his cool in the face of a potentially life-threatening injury. Back at the casualty collection area, he let the medics tend to other wounded Marines, cutting off the leg of his pants and applying first aid to himself.
He was even calm enough to take note of the time another Marine in far worse shape had a tourniquet applied: 1:20 p.m., which he estimates is shortly after the time he got hit.
"I don't know if it was something I was prepared for," he said. "I am a Christian, and God was definitely with me that day. He definitely calmed me down."
Unbeknownst to him at the time, his foot, and potentially his life, were in far worse danger than he thought.
An artery in his lower leg had been severed, but the swelling from the injury pinched off the bleeding.
Bowman, an active duty Marine for 12 years and reservist for the last five, was told he'd be OK and back fighting in short order, but when he arrived at a hospital, he shifted a little and the pressure from the swelling gave way.
"Blood was just shooting out of it like a sieve," he said.
After being rushed into emergency surgery, doctors told him if he had gone much longer, they would have amputated the foot.
He is now left with two 10-inch scars down both sides of his left lower leg and dozens of staples holding the wound closed. He lost part of his calf muscle and has permanent nerve damage.
While all this was going on halfway around the world, Bowman's wife of nearly five years, Christine, was back home in Heath, oblivious to the threat that her husband might have returned with only one foot.
"When they first called me, they said he had been peppered with shrapnel," she said. "They called me that night and said they were going to clean out his wound and he'd be OK."
The whirlwind of events surrounding the injury and possible amputation came and went without her being notified of the seriousness of the injury. "He called me a day or so later and said, 'They were able to save my foot,' and I just said, 'What?'" Christine remarked with a little laughter.
Sharing in the fear were Bowman's 3-year-old son, Matthew, 13-year-old stepdaughter, Hannah and 10-year-old stepson, Tristan.
Tristan and a couple of friends lined the streets of their Heath neighborhood with American flags for Bowman's homecoming from the Bethesda, Md., Naval Hospital on May 23.
Bowman is expected to recover with 95- to 98-percent function in his left foot. Now moving around with the help of a cane, he expects to return to his job at the patrol once he heals.
For the time being, he remains on active duty while recovering. He said he has expressed desire to return to the Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he spent several days healing and would like to help other wounded Marines and boost morale during their recovery process.
This wasn't Bowman's first trip to Iraq. He fought in the first Gulf War in 1991, although at that time he was much younger, unmarried and didn't have children.
Many of the Marines from Bowman's unit -- the Lima, Ohio-based company that has seen a lot of action and fatalities since being called to duty in January -- are as young as he was in 1991, and Bowman wishes he could still be there to offer guidance and support.
"All my guys are really young. I've seen this stuff before. For a lot of them, this is their first time away from home, their first deployment," he said.
Also fueling his longing to still be with his men is his belief in the U.S. mission in Iraq.
"The U.S. has been truly blessed. We, as Americans, have an obligation to help other people who are struggling for freedom and democracy," he said.
Erik Johns can be reached at (740) 328-8543 or ejohns@nncogannett.com
Originally published June 2, 2005
Ellie